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Mission Enterprise Zones, New Church Starts grants announced

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs press release] Bishop Stacy Sauls, Chief Operating Officer of The Episcopal Church, has announced the first recipients of the grants for Mission Enterprise Zones and for New Church Starts.

These two innovative Episcopal Church initiatives are funded through the Five Marks of Mission triennial budget, approved by General Convention July 2012. In the budget, $2 million was allotted for the work of establishing Mission Enterprise Zones and for supporting New Church Starts for the First Mark of Mission, To proclaim the Good news of the Kingdom.

Matching grants were available for up to $20,000 for a Mission Enterprise Zone and up to $100,000 for New Church Starts.

Thirty grants totaling $1.3 million were awarded to 27 dioceses, including one to an Episcopal/Lutheran initiative. The committee continues to meet monthly to review new applications. Application forms can be accessed here.

Applications were reviewed and considered by the Local Mission and Ministry Committee of Executive Council, serving as the review committee for the grant applications.

Grant recipients

The following are the grant recipients, the sponsoring diocese and the amount:

Warriors of the Dream – Transforming Violence, Building Leaders, Diocese of New York, $20,000

Westside Ministry Partnership, Diocese of Northern Indiana, $20,000

Young Adult Ministry Development Team, Diocese of Iowa, $20,000

General Convention resolution

General Convention 2012’s Resolution A073 established “the Mission Enterprise Fund, to be administered by a grants committee for that purpose established by the Executive Council, with $1 million for the 2013–2015 triennium.” It also states that “Diocesan Standing Committees and Bishops partner to create ‘Mission Enterprise Zones,’ defined as a geographic area, as a group of congregations or as an entire diocese committed to mission and evangelism that engages under-represented groups, including youth and young adults, people of color, poor and working-class people, people with a high-school

diploma or less, and/or people with little or no church background or involvement.” Text is here.

For more information contact the Rev. Thomas Brackett, Episcopal Church Missioner for New Church Starts and Missional Initiatives, at tbrackett@episcopalchurch.org